Jerusalem: Two senior Israeli Cabinet ministers have announced that they are forming a new party to run in the elections in April, in the hope that they can present a hard-line alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said they were leaving the Jewish Home party and would instead lead a new list of candidates.

The Jewish Home is a hard-line nationalist party that is especially popular with religious voters and West Bank settlers. Bennett and Shaked hope that their new movement, called "The New Right," will have a broader appeal to both religious and secular voters.

Bennett has been the leader of the Jewish Home since 2012, and Shaked is one of the country's most popular politicians.